


Red Letter Day

by keelywolfe



Series: by any other name [81]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mentions of LV, Possible Past Medical Experimentation, Prejudice Against Monsters (Undertale), Spicyhoney - Freeform, Underfell Papyrus (Undertale), Underfell Sans (Undertale), Underswap Papyrus (Undertale), Undertale Monsters on the Surface, mentions of past trauma, mentions of sickness, papcest - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-17 19:03:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20626010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keelywolfe/pseuds/keelywolfe
Summary: Edge and Stretch are finally paying a visit to Alphys to check on the results of her tests.





	Red Letter Day

* * *

The drive to the Embassy from New New home took about fifteen to twenty minutes depending on traffic. During the week, it was one that Edge took twice a day, occasionally listening to the radio, more likely to a podcast or the news.

Today, they were hardly five minutes into the drive and Stretch was already fidgeting. He’d hold Edge’s hand for a moment only to drop it, switch to flicking his lighter through his fingers, then back to holding hands. Once, he even started pulling out a cigarette only to catch himself, tucking the pack back into his hoodie pocket and switching back to the lighter. 

It ached to see him so disturbed. Whatever Alphys had to say about his test results, at least Stretch’s anxiety over them would be finally over.

He’d come awake slowly that morning, having woken last night with Edge’s nightmare, and his sleepy pleasure at being brought a cup of coffee in bed had quickly turned to suspicion after a few sips. His reaction at being told Alphys moved up their appointment had been pure anxiety and Edge did not regret keeping the information to himself until then.

Sitting here now, his attention split between the road and watching as Stretch squirmed, he only wished there was something he could do to help, past keeping a hand available to be held whenever it was needed.

He’d accept his helplessness for now. This part would be over soon and he was braced for any answer Alphys offered, ready to do whatever was needed to help his love. Physically, mentally, anything and everything in between, he was prepared to offer it. 

Now they only had to get there.

The parking lot at the Embassy was a secured one that required an ID, and Edge had his own parking spot at the back of the lot. Today, he forbore using it, instead parking as close to the entrance as he could. 

If Stretch noticed, he didn’t comment on it, scrambling out of the car and already heading towards the entrance the moment the car was in park. He lingered there outside, waiting for Edge to catch up, hands shoved into his pockets and even then Edge could see his hands clenching and unclenching, the shrunken quality of his eye lights. He was scared and trying very hard not to show it.

The protestors across the street were there night and day, though at this hour there were only a handful of Humans, their ragged signs sitting propped at their feet. It seemed even racism required morning coffee to get going, Edge thought with dark humor. He moved to stand with his back to them, blocking their view as he gently took Stretch’s face in both his hands, giving him a brief kiss.

“It’s going to be okay, love,” Edge whispered to him. Stretch took a shaky breath and let it out, nodding slowly.

“yeah. let’s get this over with.” He turned and opened the door, and Edge followed him in.

Everyone who came in was required to swipe their ID, and even though Stretch could easily shortcut to any place in the building, he always did. It was for security purposes and Stretch had told him once that if Ass-gore had to do it, then he supposed it wasn’t beneath him. 

Edge hadn’t commented on the nickname, that was a battle he wasn’t about to join. 

As far as he knew, Sans was obedient about scanning his badge as well. His own brother, Edge couldn’t say, but that was another pie he was refusing to take a slice from. Red was a part of the security department, in official and unofficial roles, and if they had issues with him, he’d leave it to them.

The guard at the station offered them both a genuine smile, his curiosity obvious, but he didn’t question them. Anyone else would need to sign in with a purpose to visit, but Stretch was on a rather short list of people with classified access. Not that he ever used it. He knew the way to the labs, was already headed towards the elevator with Edge on his heels, but he went to them only rarely.

That was an issue that Stretch did not discuss, but then, neither did Red or Sans. Edge couldn’t remember the years his brother spent working at the labs in Underfell. On the rare occasion he said anything, Red usually made cracks about working there as a janitor. Sans was more amicable and often helped out in both the laboratories here and Stretch’s in New New Home, but for all the usefulness his brilliance offered the Monster community, Stretch refused to work with any of the other scientists. 

Once, many years ago, Edge thought him selfish for it. Now, having spent dark nights with his lover in his arms, listening to him brokenly confess to watching his brother die during the resets, he could only wonder at what sort of trauma Stretch endured in the labs in Underswap that he refused to even discuss it.

It might be better that Edge didn’t know, and that whoever deserved to be punished for it was far from his reach. 

At least Stretch was able to still enjoy his love of science, that hadn’t been stolen from him. But Red avoided the labs entirely when he could, and if Stretch wouldn’t talk about it, expecting any information from Red was less likely than stumbling across the Loch Ness monster in a puddle on the street.

In this elevator heading to the labs, all he could do was hold Stretch’s hand, squeezing gently as it trembled in his grip, and try not to think of the day Stretch had come on his own to get the tests done. He should have been suspicious then, too trusting and—

No. He was not allowing that thought any sort of traction, would not allow the faint whispers of his LV to taint any other part of him. He was here today and Stretch had told him the truth. That was all that mattered.

He heard Stretch inhale raggedly as the elevator doors opened, but he didn’t hesitate, walked straight through them with his normal lackadaisical stride, forcing Edge to slow his own steps. 

The labs took up an entire basement floor of the Embassy, chosen to be placed here rather than at New New Home for reasons of practicality and safety. As far as construction went, Monsters were well familiar with how to build underground and the structure of the entire building was able to withstand everything from earthquakes to a concentrated magical attack.

The main room was an open layout, with plenty of tables and machinery around, and the walls were lined with doors that led to private labs for experiments that required more discretion. The scientists who worked here did so with the knowledge that their experiments would be used to better the lives of Monsters and Humans alike, and Alphys herself had demanded strict protocols on what experiments were allowed. 

That was not a surprise; Edge had met the Amalgamates who stayed within New New Home. He had his own opinions on them that he kept to himself, and he’d easily agreed to the rules for laboratory protocols. He wasn’t entirely comfortable with her being the one to run tests on Stretch, but no one knew more about souls than she did. 

Alphys was at one of the work tables and she brightened when she caught sight of them, waddling over. 

“hey, lizard lady, how’s it going?” Stretch’s grin was the most genuine expression he’d offered since they’d gotten in the car. He leaned down, holding out his arms in offering. Once, Stretch had told her she could take the hug if she wanted or not, and he wouldn’t be offended either way. Today was a hug day and Edge did not know if that was good or bad.

But her smile was warm. “It’s g-going well! Why don’t we talk in my office?”

She led them to a closed door, unlocking it, and they followed her inside. The various clutter was a stark contrast to the orderly lab; her desk covered in papers, walls lined with anime posters and a framed picture from her wedding. There was another picture of Undyne on her desk, grinning at the camera, and a pink paper heart was taped to one corner with a sticker that blared the word ’kawii!!’.

Alphys bustled around, muttering to herself as she gathered up paper stacks from the chairs, gesturing at them to sit before she settled into her own seat. “Did you want a drink?”

“nah, i’m good,” Stretch waved it off, “just tell me the truth, do i need to start shopping for a urn or what? ‘cause i’d kinda rather get my dust sprinkled properly and a mason jar isn’t the aesthetic i’m looking for.”

“Don’t,” Edge said sharply before he could stop himself. He knew that biting sarcasm was only a defense mechanism, but he couldn’t listen to that. He couldn’t.

Sweet creature that she was, Alphys looked horrified at the black joke, “N-n-no, of course not! Y-you’re fine!”

That was not the answer Stretch was expecting. He blinked, the mask of his indifference slipping to show a struggle between disbelief and tremulous hope.

“fine.” Stretch repeated, slowly. “so why am i down an hp?”

She shrugged, “Stress, past sickness? There’s a lot of reasons for HP to drop and nothing unusual showed up on any of the tests. B-but, see here. You can’t see it in a Check but—“

She pulled out a small device out of a drawer that looked like a tablet and walked over. Alphys didn’t seem to notice Stretch’s slight flinch as she settled something that looked like a stethoscope over Stretch’s chest. She showed them the tablet, charting a mass of numbers.

“See here?” She pointed at the screen with one clawed finger. “Checks don't show the decimals, but if you can look a little deeper, you’ll see it’s c-coming back up.”

It was, Edge saw, swallowing down his own relief. The tablet was showing deeply into the decimals, but as they watched, the last number went up by one. And again, very slowly crawling upward.

“If it keeps up like this, y-you’ll be back to five in a few months!” She beamed. Her smile faltered as Stretch made a small sound, shaking so hard the bones of his fingers clattered against the chair arm. “Are you okay?”

“He’s fine,” Edge told her quietly, and pulled Stretch into his arms as he finally broke and the tears started. Held him gently as he cried, murmuring soft words and nonsense while the fear loosened its hold. Long minutes passed before Stretch pulled away, sniffling and wiping at his face with his sleeve. 

Alphys already had Kleenex and a bottle of water in hand, practically shoving them into Stretch’s lap as she burbled out tearfully, “I’m so sorry! I would have told you over the phone if I’d known you were so worried, I only wanted to show you the results! I should have known, I could have told you—“

“it’s fine, lizard lady,” Stretch said and this time it was Alphys who held her arms out for a hug, the two of them embracing amidst tears. “s’all good.”

She nodded, sniffling, and drew back. “Th-the only thing I can recommend is getting plenty of rest, eat good food. It’ll speed up the process.” She gave the pocket of his hoodie a little poke, tapping the visible bulge there. "You should stop smoking. It retards your magic and it could be slowing down the process.”

“did you have to say that where he could hear?” Stretch groaned.

“Yes,” she said unrepentantly. “I don’t want to see you in an urn or a mason jar, and definitely not an ashtray.”

Edge said nothing, but Stretch still sighed. “i’ll try, okay?”

“Try hard,” Alphys said sternly.

She went on to show Stretch a few more test results, the two of them slowly descending into scientific jargon that Edge didn’t even try to understand. He’d gotten what he wanted out of this visit, the only words he wanted to hear. 

Stretch was going to be fine and that was enough.

* * *

Once they were finished at the lab, Edge drove them back home. He thought about offering to take them for lunch, but the stress of the morning was hitting Stretch before they even made it back to the car, his untied shoes dragging as he walked. He was asleep by the time they made it out of the parking lot and Edge didn’t hesitate to let him sleep, carrying him carefully into the house and settling with him on the sofa, a blanket drawn over them both. 

Normally, he wasn’t one for naps, especially not in the mid-morning. Today, he felt unexpectedly tired, all the worries of the past days seeping away and leaving exhaustion in its wake. His normal urges to be moving, working or cleaning or cooking, abandoned him, and Edge settled on the sofa with his sleeping husband in his arms, holding him close. Drowsing in the pocket of shared warmth beneath the blanket.

He couldn’t say how long he slept when he heard the soft click of the unlocked door, the almost silent footsteps. Edge didn’t opened his sockets as he called on his magic, flexing his fingers beneath the blanket as he reached out to turn his brother’s soul blue and lifted.

When he turned to look, Red was dangling in the air like a marionette, a sharp grin on his face. He tipped his head towards the door, one brow bone raised and Edge frowned, lowering Red to the floor before carefully pulling away from Stretch. Who murmured discontentedly, his face scrunching unhappily at the loss of warmth. Edge pressed a kiss to his skull and whispered a soft promise to return. Likely it went unheard but Stretch still settled with a sigh, burrowing into the blanket

Red was sitting on the steps when Edge walked out, an unlit cigar clenched in his teeth, “how’s the honey bun.”

Ah, of course. If there was one person Red had difficulty getting intel from it was Alphys, and they’d been in her office to talk.

There was a small, petty temptation to let his brother squirm a bit for the answer, but Edge resisted it, “He’ll be all right. His HP is recovering. She recommended he quit smoking.”

Red snorted loudly. “have fun with that.”

Edge didn’t think he imagined seeing a line of tension in Red’s shoulders relax. He’d been worried, Edge realized, far more than he would ever show or say, but enough to come by the moment he knew they had answers. Knowing that made a painful knot in Edge’s soul ease, a silent forgiveness for his brother keeping secrets from him about Stretch. Red did care about Stretch, he knew, past him simply being a precious liability for his brother. It was still nice to have it confirmed from time to time. 

But it didn’t stop him from slapping Red on the back of the skull when he started lighting his cigar, hissing, “Do not smoke that near me!”

Red only grinned, unrepentantly, “yeah, yeah, get back in there with the honey bun. might want to get in your chucklefucks while you can, before the nicotine withdrawal hits.”

“Sans—“ Edge started to snarl, but he was talking to thin air, leaving him with no one to take his irritation out on. He blew out a sharp breath and shook his head, rubbing at his nasal bone to stave off an incipient brother-shaped headache.

Then he went back inside to take his brother’s advice.

-finis-


End file.
